Wow, ok, I guess it's not a one shot after all. lol.

This is my story that I use however, to 'fill in the gaps'. That is to say, when I have writer's block.

Why, you ask?

Because this story is easiest to draw from my strange imagination. lololol. XD

Enjoy. XP

What's this? No warnings?!

...

...

No serious, I can't think of any. Enjoy! :D

Unforgiven, Chapter 2

Vincent Valentine P.O.V

Cloud returns to the Highwind, greeted by a hysterical Tifa and subtle revelations that he had encountered the ex-General himself. He disappears, Vincent following to confront the strange behaviour of his accomplice.

--

"Has anyone seen Cloud?" Tifa asked for seemingly the hundredth time that day. Vincent watched with amusement as Cid twitched with growing annoyance. The brunette constantly fretted over the blonde, treating him more like a mother then a concerned girlfriend.

...Girlfriend... even I am not certain of that one...

The pair clearly shared a special bond, but vincent doubted whether Cloud found that bond to be anything more then platonic. Tifa, with her thoughts firmly planted on a meaningful relationship with Cloud, easily may have mistaken kind and caring words for ones with romantic value. Vincent stood from where he had sat on the floor and dusted off his cloak, Red smirking at him as Vincent quirked an eyebrow in response.

"Is it your intention to tell her of Cloud's wherabouts?" the Cosmonian flicking his tail in amusement, Vincent nodding in reply. Red sighed softly, shaking his head.

"She would only worry further... I am surprised myself that he ventured in there alone..." Red shuddered slightly, "Could you imagine he encountered Sephiroth? Alone?"

...Perhaps he would not feel as we do... Sephiroth was once a friend. and some rivers run deep...

Vincent had seen the contents of the Shinra Mansion's library. He had laid his eyes on the holding tank, stumbled upon Hojo's reports, scoured Gast's reports. Hojo had even been thorough and thoughtful enough to record the after effects of Sephiroth's descent to madness, and the psychological effects it held for Cloud and his SOLDIER friend.

Zack.

...Yes... that was his name...

Vincent was drawn from his thoughts by a flurry of movement.

"Cloud!" Tifa's voice rang clear, as the blonde entered the cockpit area. Cloud merely nodded in acknowledgement, as Tifa flung herself at him, clutching on to him tightly.

"Where were you?! We were all so worried!!" Tifa cried, Cloud peering over her shoulder at the three stoic expressions of the cabin's occupants. He smirked faintly, before Tifa let him go.

"So I can see..." He murmured, amusement flitting through his tone. Tifa seemed to dismiss the reply, choosing instead to bombard the blonde with questions.

"Did you go to the crater? Alone? Are you crazy?! What if Sephiroth had have found you?!" she cried, Vincent absorbing the subtle reastion Cloud held to the mention of their nemesis' name. It was subtle, and had Vincent not been a Turk so long ago, he himself may not have noticed. It was a slight narrowing of the pupils, the faintest shade of colour falling from his face, the minute clench of teeth and an air of sorrowed agony. It had been all Vincent had needed to see.

"And what if I had have found Sephiroth?" Cloud replied softly, Tifa nodding feverishly.

"Exactly! He could have killed you! what were you thinking?!" She cried, before flinging her arms around him once more, completely missing the sugggestiong Cloud had slipped. Cloud nonchalantly patted her back as she continued to murmur her worry.

...So you have indeed encountered him... and he chose to let you live... Is it possible that...?

"I need a coffee or something. I won't be long. For now, Cid, could we set course for the Gold Saucer? Due South West..." Cloud said distantly, the captain tapping some of the ash off the cigarette he had been inhaling for the past minute or so. He blew out a puff of smoke and gave Cloud a scrutinizing gaze.

"Gold Saucer?" Cid repeated, "Why the hell d'ya wanna go there?"

Cloud said nothing, choosing instead to slip from the room silently, after pushing Tifa gently from his arms. Tifa moved to follow, the Ex-Turk shaking his head at her as she did so. She glared at him for a moment, challenging him to say anything, before he too left the room.

If there was a place on the entire ship he knew Cloud would not be, it was the tea room. He followed his sharpened instincts instead, the airship's motors kicking into gear as the Ship began to ascend. He moved silently to the viewing deck and opened the door, the burst of cold wind that greeted him, more then welcome. He caught sight of the blonde immediately, bracing himself against the railing as the airship continued it's ascent, a sudden jolt indicating their movement forward had begun. Vincent walked slowly, and stood by Cloud's side, awaiting the blonde's acknowledgement. Cloud turned to face Vincent, and the ex-Turk met his gaze.

"What happened with Sephiroth today?" Vincent asked bluntly, Cloud's eyes furrowing slightly.

"I don't know what you're..." Cloud began, before stopping, resigning to Vincent's unwavering focus, "I offered him choice..."

"Yet he refuses to comply?" vincent queried, "Even with sanity regained?"

"How did you...?"

"You are here beside me Cloud. Alive, breathing, contemplating. He has gained meaning assosciated with your name. Any soul capable of compassion and caring can not be completely devoid of sanity..."

"He thinks he can not be recovered... the he is too far lost to be redeemed..." Cloud said softly, pain etched across his features. Vincent watched him with curiousity.

"You were closer friends then what you have said, I believe..." Vincent stated, Cloud remaining silent as he returned his gaze to the landscape surrounding them.

"He was a God among men... A hero among SOLDIERs... He was lusted by countless, yet loved by few..." Cloud trailed for a moment, a soft sigh slipping past his lips, "And I was only one of six to ever hold the tile of friend to him... One of six to ever know him as the man he was, and not the monster or the glorified sex object he was portrayed as..."

"But you were no more then friends?"

"More then friends..." Cloud frowned, "But if you're implying romantic relations? No... I never could, I never wanted to. The General was... and still is... unique... I wanted to be around him, to worship him for the force that he was, aspire to be him. He was a free spirit however... To know him, his darker musings became apparent... His unwillingness to be a pawn for Shinra to hold claim to... His unwillingness to follow orders... I never believed anyone would ever hold claim to Sephiroth and hold on to him tight enough for his rare smiles to fade, his light to darken, his soul to be quashed..."

Vincent nodded, a strange feeling of understanding settling across his mind. Cloud continued to gaze at the snow capped mountains they passed, his eyes glazing with apparent thought.

"Even if he were not your romantic interest, even if he were not owned, you belong to him... that is apparent... Even before the madness, you were his from the very start..." Vincent watched as Cloud nodded in response, silence still shrouding the blonde. The information continued to register with the ex-Turk's mind. The gathering of sources, the processing of information, and the collaboration of a clearer picture. He was still a turk at heart, despite the amount of disgust the thought brought.

Sephiroth.

So much a part of Cloud's life, so much an influential figure, he had regained the only thing that had driven the pair apart, and it could not have come at a worse time. Vincent's inner voices flooded his mind.

... He's more like you then you realise...

...Sephiroth... he still has to die...

...It's all a lie. Deception. Reluctancy.

...Lucrecia...

A hand touched his back and he was pulled from the swirling thoughts by Cloud calling his name. He turned to face a concerned blonde, who immediately dropped his hand off of his shoulder.

"Vincent, your eyes..." Cloud said softly. Vincent drew up his gaze and stared into Cloud's eyes, focusing on the concern, Cloud never dropping his focus, as he willed the demons to subside. Cloud's face began to ease, and he nodded once, letting Vincent know that he had succeeded.

"Thank you, Cloud."

It was a statement he had uttered many times to the blonde in very similar circumstances since he had joined their destined party. He and Cloud had a mutual understanding, as well as a past linked with the one ominous figure. Or should he say two? Although Sephiroth had been their most common ground, he had not become the one he was today alone.

"Hojo..." Vincent murmured, Cloud nodding in understanding as the two resumed their observation of the oceans and land masses, the sea air whipping through their hair and the salt caressed breeze filling up their nostrils. Despite their intertwined fates and their common grounds, Vincent had never once referred to Cloud as his friend. He was an ally, a comrade, but he held no time for friends. He believe Cloud to be much the same.

"He sees his death as redemption..." Cloud stated suddenly, "And he seems more then willing to let me be the one who deals the final blow.

"...That is good."

"What?" Cloud gaped slightly in stunned surprise, Vincent holding back the temptation to smirk. He knew so much, and yet he knew so little. Cloud in a nutshell.

"It shows it is your forgiveness he seeks most desperately. He wants you to deal the final blow because it is the only option he sees fitting... You dealt a death to him as he slipped into insanity, and he expects that same courtesy to apply on his rise from the ashes..."

"He's sane though... He's sane..."

"Jenova lurks within him, Cloud. As long as such a menace remains, so does the danger..." Vincent paused, a thought occuring, "Why the Gold Saucer, Cloud? Is there real purpose, or is it merely a postponing?"

Cloud said nothing, brushing loose strands of wayward hair from his eyes as he gazed at the cities they were now passing.

"Perhaps you merely wish to find an alternative method of transport... and try once more..." Cincent suggested, Cloud flinching at Vincent's knowledge, "It will be easier if the others are distracted elsewhere, of course... I will keep busy if you wish me to do so..."

"Why?" Cloud jumped in, "...Why?"

"Why?"

"Yes, Why. Why do you insist on helping? Why do you know me better then even I myself ever could? Why are you able to understand why I do these things? But more importantly, why now, are you taking my side?" Cloud pressed, his voice raising slightly in apparent frustration. Then, a voice rising above the rest, again, stronger, self-explanatory.

... He's more like you then you realise...

...He is?...

...He's you... He's an option out, a passage, an outlet, a claim...

...He is...

"Redemption holds many forms..." Vincent stated flatly, turning to leave Cloud in his thought.

"Vincent?"

"Cloud?" he replied, eyes never even turning to meet the blonde's.

"Thank you."